1. 5 Jan


    Looking back at the best of 2011 2.  The Weeknd broke onto the scene this year with a trilogy of underground albums released via the singer’s website.  Abel Tesfaye’s falsetto is perfetcly matched with the sexy synth slow jams that tell stories of sex, lust, drugs, pain and regret.  Of the three albums he released, House of Balloons is hands down his most cohesive and universally loveable album.  It’s packed with one amazing song after the other.  What You Need spawned several fan made video’s including one single take piece which became the unofficial official video.  Wicked Games is so well sung and sad that you can hear his pain.  Coming Down is a creepy slowburner about a drug addict losing his true love.  The absolute best is The Morning where The Weeknd sings a rap song and spawned an amazing chorus “All that money, the money is the motive”. His other two albums may not be as amazing as House of Balloons but they are still full of great tracks.  The Zone (feat Drake), both versions of The Birds and the title track off of Thursday are pure brilliance.  Echoes of Silence (EOS) is slower that the previous two albums but still has some sick tracks.  The Host/XO and Outside are great.  The album opener, D.D. has already become famous due to his pitch perfect rendition of Michael Jackson’s Dirty Diana.  For me, the standout was the leaked single “Initiation”, a dark song that plays with Abel’s voice.  It oscilates between fast and slow, high and low; seducing a girl to the dark side. There is obviously a reason why fellow Torontonian Drake signed him to October’s Very Own label.  Now that his trilogy is complete he can start commercially releasing albums and “go mainstream”.  This guy deserves every iota of fame he gets.  Soon the whole world will be singing praises for that OVO and that XO.

    Looking back at the best of 2011

    2.  The Weeknd broke onto the scene this year with a trilogy of underground albums released via the singer’s website.  Abel Tesfaye’s falsetto is perfetcly matched with the sexy synth slow jams that tell stories of sex, lust, drugs, pain and regret.  Of the three albums he released, House of Balloons is hands down his most cohesive and universally loveable album.  It’s packed with one amazing song after the other.  What You Need spawned several fan made video’s including one single take piece which became the unofficial official video.  Wicked Games is so well sung and sad that you can hear his pain.  Coming Down is a creepy slowburner about a drug addict losing his true love.  The absolute best is The Morning where The Weeknd sings a rap song and spawned an amazing chorus “All that money, the money is the motive”.

    His other two albums may not be as amazing as House of Balloons but they are still full of great tracks.  The Zone (feat Drake), both versions of The Birds and the title track off of Thursday are pure brilliance.  Echoes of Silence (EOS) is slower that the previous two albums but still has some sick tracks.  The Host/XO and Outside are great.  The album opener, D.D. has already become famous due to his pitch perfect rendition of Michael Jackson’s Dirty Diana.  For me, the standout was the leaked single “Initiation”, a dark song that plays with Abel’s voice.  It oscilates between fast and slow, high and low; seducing a girl to the dark side.

    There is obviously a reason why fellow Torontonian Drake signed him to October’s Very Own label.  Now that his trilogy is complete he can start commercially releasing albums and “go mainstream”.  This guy deserves every iota of fame he gets.  Soon the whole world will be singing praises for that OVO and that XO.

     

  2. 5 Jan


    Looking back at the best of 2011 4. Oct 1, 2011.  This was the day my mind was blown by the annual Toronto art festival known as “Nuit Blanche”.  From sunset to 6:00am the city is turned into hundreds of contemporary art exhibits, most of which are interactive.  There is no way to do the whole festival, but I hit up close to 60 of the exhibits with my buddies, one of whom showed me how to use long exposure and zoom to create a “warp effect”.  This particular photo is a favourite from one of the trippiest exhibits which was staged inside the Toronto Design Exchange trading floor.  After this year I plan to take part in the experience every year and I encourage anyone who loves art to do the same, it will truly open your eyes to the potential of what art can really be.

    Looking back at the best of 2011

    4. Oct 1, 2011.  This was the day my mind was blown by the annual Toronto art festival known as “Nuit Blanche”.  From sunset to 6:00am the city is turned into hundreds of contemporary art exhibits, most of which are interactive.  There is no way to do the whole festival, but I hit up close to 60 of the exhibits with my buddies, one of whom showed me how to use long exposure and zoom to create a “warp effect”.  This particular photo is a favourite from one of the trippiest exhibits which was staged inside the Toronto Design Exchange trading floor.  After this year I plan to take part in the experience every year and I encourage anyone who loves art to do the same, it will truly open your eyes to the potential of what art can really be.

     

  3. 5 Jan


    Looking back at the best of 2011 5. In January 2011, my wife and I decided to book a vacation to Jamaica.  It’s true, you really have no idea how amazing it is here until you go!  We stayed in Montego Bay at this amazing resort called Secrets on the “Wild Orchid” side.  With an amazing room and a private beach there was nothing more I could ask for.  Everyday I had a jerk chicken and red stripe beers on the beach with the beautiful mountainous view of Freeport in the background.  I got addicted to snorkelling after trying it once in Ocho Rios and then at our resort. We also climbed Dunns River falls into th rainforest, now how many time can you say you’ve scaled a waterfall?  To cap off the amazing vacation, we came back pregnant.

    Looking back at the best of 2011

    5. In January 2011, my wife and I decided to book a vacation to Jamaica.  It’s true, you really have no idea how amazing it is here until you go!  We stayed in Montego Bay at this amazing resort called Secrets on the “Wild Orchid” side.  With an amazing room and a private beach there was nothing more I could ask for.  Everyday I had a jerk chicken and red stripe beers on the beach with the beautiful mountainous view of Freeport in the background.  I got addicted to snorkelling after trying it once in Ocho Rios and then at our resort. We also climbed Dunns River falls into th rainforest, now how many time can you say you’ve scaled a waterfall?  To cap off the amazing vacation, we came back pregnant.

     

  4. 4 Jan


    Looking back at the best of 2011 10.  I failed to pick up a copy of Chuck Palahnuik’s “Damned” last year otherwise I am sure it would have been here instead of The Passage.  In fact 2011 was the first year I haven’t read a Chuck P book since 2005. Instead, the best thing I read all year was Justin Cronin’s sprawling epic about a band of human survivors in a futuristic world where a vampire like virus has turned the world into a wasteland.  The Passage spans centuries and shows the aftermath of a government experiment gone very wrong.  This adventure begins in the present and jumps to a century in the future where we encounter a society living inside a walled compound.  Their travels lead them to a haven where humans are bred and sacrificed to these telepathic vampires and finally comes full circle to the site where all the destruction began, an abandoned labratory in what used to be the Denver rocky mountains. I loved this book, and was not at all intimidated by its size, in fact I wish it went on longer.  I love that it ends abruptly in the midst of a showdown leaving room for the second installment of a trilogy.  I can’t even imagine where the story is going to go from here but I cannot wait to find out when it releases sometime this year. An honourable mention goes to Duncan Glen’s “I, Lucifer” which I read on a beach vacation.  It was sleazy and deplorable, exploring what Satan would do with a human body.  Apparently, drugs, sex and sins…it was fun book, although at times uneven and predictable.

    Looking back at the best of 2011

    10.  I failed to pick up a copy of Chuck Palahnuik’s “Damned” last year otherwise I am sure it would have been here instead of The Passage.  In fact 2011 was the first year I haven’t read a Chuck P book since 2005.

    Instead, the best thing I read all year was Justin Cronin’s sprawling epic about a band of human survivors in a futuristic world where a vampire like virus has turned the world into a wasteland.  The Passage spans centuries and shows the aftermath of a government experiment gone very wrong.  This adventure begins in the present and jumps to a century in the future where we encounter a society living inside a walled compound.  Their travels lead them to a haven where humans are bred and sacrificed to these telepathic vampires and finally comes full circle to the site where all the destruction began, an abandoned labratory in what used to be the Denver rocky mountains.

    I loved this book, and was not at all intimidated by its size, in fact I wish it went on longer.  I love that it ends abruptly in the midst of a showdown leaving room for the second installment of a trilogy.  I can’t even imagine where the story is going to go from here but I cannot wait to find out when it releases sometime this year.

    An honourable mention goes to Duncan Glen’s “I, Lucifer” which I read on a beach vacation.  It was sleazy and deplorable, exploring what Satan would do with a human body.  Apparently, drugs, sex and sins…it was fun book, although at times uneven and predictable.